Re: Resetting the head on a Mill Drill

Now I understand what this thread is all about. One of the
requirements of the drill/mill was a large quill travel. The ENCO I
purchased has 5" of travel. I don't plan to move the head in the
middle of a job. For my use, 5" of Z travel is fine.

CADMAN

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@y..., Deon Styger <deons@e...> wrote:
>
> There are also some published designs in some of the hobby magazines
for
> attachments to solve this problem. I know that I have once stumbled
accross
> such an article in Engineering in Miniature. It consists of some
sort of a
> clamp which is then clamped to the column at a predetermined
position
> (depending on the lenghts of all the tools to be used for machining
of that
> particular part). A mating part with a "tongue" is permanently fixed
to the
> machine and this then engages with the clamp when the head is
lowered again
> after each tool change, thus retaining the original co-ordinates.
>
> I am not sure about the accuracy or repeatability of such a design,
but the
> concept is good. I can try and look up the magazine date and issue
for this
> article if someone is interested.
>
> Deon Styger
>
>
> > original message
>
> > In a message dated 4/23/01 7:37:23 PM Mountain Daylight Time,
> > kimberln@h... writes:
> >
> > <<
> > NO, No no. You need a mill drill with a dovetailed column or you
> > will spend forever trying to get it adjusted to register if you
> > move the head up or down. >>
> >
> > A cheap way for anyone that already has the problem. Make a
> > mount for one of
> > the small hand held lasers on the head aiming out
> > horizontally, try for one
> > with the smallest spot possible at the distance you will need.
> > As far as convenient, drop a chalk line, and draw one or two
> > lines, or even a
> > slotted piece of metal, be sure the line/slot is exactly
> > vertical. Set the
> > laser so when it is mounted on the head, and turned on it bisects
the
> > string/line, optional if the spot is too wide, use two
> > strings/lines and aim
> > the spot between them. The further away within reason, the
> > more accurate the
> > reset of the head after moving will be. You should be easily
> > able to get
> > less than .001 inch. Do the math.
> > bill